Barbecue cook preserves bygone Southern methods

Barbecue cooker Terry Blow stokes coals in a burn barrel outside the pit house at Scott's Barbecue in Hemingway, S. C. on June 20, 2012.

Photos and text by Randall Hill / Reuters

Only 10 to 15 barbecue pits throughout the South still use fire-coal-pit methods, according to food historian Rien Fertel. Workers at Scott’s Barbecue in Hemingway, S. C., cook nine hogs in a process that takes about 12 hours.

Barbecue cooker Terry Blow carries coals to the pit house at Scott's Barbecue.